Dr. Rosenbaum, pediatric eye surgeon, dies

Los Angeles-Pediatric eye surgeon Arthur L. Rosenbaum, MD, died June 22 at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center after a long illness due to complications from cancer. He was 69.

Dr. Rosenbaum had served as the chief of pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus at the Jules Stein Eye Institute (JSEI) of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), since 1980 and as vice chairman of ophthalmology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA since 1990. He also was UCLA’s Brindell and Milton Gottlieb Professor of Pediatric Ophthalmology.

Dr. Rosenbaum’s clinical practice specialized in childhood disorders of the eye and in adult strabismus. He was one of the first investigators to explore the use of onabotulinumtoxinA (Botox Cosmetic, Allergan) injections to correct eye-muscle misalignment in strabismus, and he and his peers later used onabotulinumtoxinA to paralyze eye nerves in facial spastic disorders.

Among Dr. Rosenbaum’s numerous awards were the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Marshall M. Parks Medal from the Children’s Eye Foundation, both bestowed on him in 2006. He published more than 200 articles and co-authored a major textbook about strabismus. He was a member of the editorial boards of four journals, including the American Medical Association’s Archives of Ophthalmology. He was vice president of the International Strabismological Association and president of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus. He served on the latter organization’s board or as an officer for 9 years.

Dr. Rosenbaum’s funeral was June 27 in St. Louis. JSEI expects to host a public memorial service on campus this month.